A Mari Carol

[Dracos]

May 01 19:42:33 <Kotono>   Mari steps ahead, taking the hand offered. She rises up...or do the stars in the sky come down to meet her? Her tears trickle out, glimmering and falling from her face. They burst into light as they fall, becoming more stars around her. "Come closer...closer..." A soft, motherly voice calls. "Mari, come closer to me."
May 01 19:44:47 *   Mari walks forward, not really caring where she's going as long as she winds up with someone that can help her. But you know, no one's talked to her like that in a very, very long time. It makes her just want to curl up somewhere warm and forget about everything.
May 01 19:47:15 <Kotono>   Ahead...ahead is a place. The smell of dust and open air. The scent of horses and old leather. The way the light comes into the room. It's a tent, a traveling tent from long ago. The bedrolls are out, a woman sitting on one. She looks like a mother, her face radiating kindness. She is tall and violet-haired. "Sit with me, child."
May 01 19:49:58 *   Mari sits down on another bedroll, cross legged. She doesn't much like some stranger seeing her a tearful wreck, but there's no real choice at the moment. "Who are you?"
May 01 19:52:03 <Kotono>   "In this time I am called Janice. Your heartbreak and sorrow reached across the borders of time to find me, child."
May 01 19:53:19 <Mari>   "'In this time?' Where are we now?"
May 01 19:55:31 <Kotono>   "A time yet not spun at the loom of fate." Janice offers her hand out, "You want help to save your sister. Mari...what would you say to another who asks you for help?"
May 01 20:00:06 <Mari>   "Well..." Old habits kick in, skepticism bred from dealing with backalley thieves and con-men for years. "I'd want to know why, what they need me to do." This feels callous, as the surroundings remind so much of days gone past and make her want to just relax everything. But, well, these are important details to work out.
May 01 20:01:18 <Kotono>   "Go out there and look, then," Janice gestures to the tent flap, "See the future waiting for you."
May 01 20:01:54 <Mari>   Mari stands up and goes to take a look. It's not like this is the strangest thing that's ever been said to her, after all.
May 01 20:04:40 <Kotono>   Outside is a cold, barren, dust road. Off to the side of it is a small pile of stones, a weather-beaten man kneeling before them. His hair burns like fire, as he rises. As he does you can see your short swords, lying in front of the stones. "Sorry," he says aloud, bowing is head in prayer. "Hope your next life is a happier one."
May 01 20:08:13 <Mari>   "Yeah. Yeah, so do I." Mari's stomach twists--she usually goes to a lot of effort to avoid thinking about her own end or what might come after it. She takes a close look at the man, wondering if he's someone she should know.
May 01 20:10:43 <Kotono>   As she does, the man turns. His face is tired and old, lined deeply. You don't know him offhand. He smiles a moment, "Images of the past..." Slowly the man shakes his head, "Just a ghost of what could have been. You never find her, you know. You search and you search and you search, but she always eludes you, gone with the wind before you ever manage to catch up."
May 01 20:12:37 <Mari>   "Shut up," Mari says, blinking away tears. "Do you have anything useful to say, or are you just here to taunt me?"
May 01 20:14:55 <Kotono>   The man comes forward, "Sharp words. You always had sharp words. They grew bitter as the years passed on and you drove your freinds away from you. Oh, money replaced them for a time with hirelings, but the money didn't last forever and they weren't enough, they weren't the same. So stuck up and so self centered! Always in it for your own gain and own amusement!"
May 01 20:17:07 *   Mari looks up at him as he approaches. "I guess stabbing you wouldn't do any good. I dunno if this is even real or not. What do you want? Because I don't want to listen to much more of this."
May 01 20:18:17 <Kotono>   "Then turn back from this future. Turn around and go back into the tent." He gestures, "I have to get going anyway, I don't have time to deal with your regrets. You're boring."
May 01 20:21:18 <Mari>   "Be glad to leave a future with you in it," Mari says, turning abruptly and darting back into the tent, her expression decidedly foul.
May 01 20:21:31 <Kotono>   Janice waits within. Her smile is unchanged, and in a soft voice, "What did you see?"
May 01 20:23:29 *   Mari sits down heavily. "Waste of a life." Mari sounds very fragile as she continues. "Is this, was that...real, at all?"
May 01 20:24:05 <Kotono>   "It was." Janice comes forward, putting her arms around Mari. "You saw your future as it stands now. Is that the future you want, Mari?"
May 01 20:27:23 *   Mari isn't about to turn away a comforting embrace right now, and it's not like her usual attitude is getting her very far here. She closes her eyes, buries her face in Janice's shoulder and soon soaks it with tears. "No."
May 01 20:29:38 <Kotono>   Janice holds Mari, making little soothing sounds as tears gush out. "It's okay, there's still time for you. There are many choices ahead of you, choices that will make that nothing but a nightmare to be put aside."
May 01 20:29:38 <Mari>   "What do I have to do?" Mari sobs.
May 01 20:32:33 <Kotono>   "Mari, you can't defeat Baator and save your sister with a cold heart. You'll find yourself pulled down there, as surely as flowers follow spring squalls. The battle to save your sister will be a battle to save yourself...do you see Nikkolai, Mari? Do you see how cold he can be, having closed his heart due to his painful past?"
May 01 20:35:49 <Mari>   "Yeah." Mari raises her head to look Janice in the face, wiping the back of a wrist at her own cheeks as she speaks. "I try to nudge him in the right direction once in a while. He's got some learning behind him, but not that much sense, you know?"
May 01 20:41:42 <Kotono>   "He's very much like you," Janice smiles back very warmly, holding Mari. She smells like something Mari doesn't have a name for, but it takes her back, back to warm naps against her mother, so long ago.
May 01 20:46:16 <Mari>   Under other circumstances, Mari would feel obliged to feign insult. The instinct feels woefully inadequate right now. "Yeah...well..." She sighs and looks down. "A lot of things I guess I learned to deal with by ignoring them. Wasn't anything I could do, right? It was enough trouble to stay alive."
May 01 20:47:47 <Kotono>   "It's easy to do that. It's easy to ignore things, to stop caring and hide from them. It's a hard world out there, the only way to succeed is to be tough?"
May 01 20:48:06 *   Mari just nods.
May 01 20:53:45 <Kotono>   "That's the easy way. But...taking the easy road won't fulfill your dreams. You have to be more than you are now, grow to something better than you stand now. It will be a hard road, there is no way to hide it. Your friend Kamvakua knows this all too well, as does Adail. I offer you a road of dust and pain. But the fruits and bounties of walking this road..."
May 01 20:59:47 <Mari>   "They're like immortal though. They've got plenty of time for it!" It doesn't sound like much of a defense even to Mari. With her eyes fixed on the ground: "There were days, you know, when I kind of hoped everyone else had died, just so I wouldn't have to worry about what happened to them. Not real proud of that. I guess it wouldn't take much work for me to be a better person. I don't *need* to change the world, though. I just wa
May 01 21:00:15 <Mari>    I just want to get Ami back!"
May 01 21:05:36 <Kotono>   "Then, listen to me and let me help you, so that you can help yourself and help her." Janice smiles, "Are you willing to walk this road to where it will take you, child?"
May 01 21:10:52 <Mari>   "Yeah..." Mari sighs. "Yeah, I am. I'll do whatever I have to do. She must hate me by now, but I'm going to get her out of there anyway because I'm all she's got left." (more)
May 01 21:14:59 <Mari>   "She's been alive all this time. In BAATOR. And I've just been running around on my own, you know? I can't imagine what she's had to go through, what they've done to her." Mari shudders visibly. "Kind of rather not think about that at all, but that never helped much, I guess. So I'll do anything, because it's my fault. I should've taken her with me!"
May 01 21:16:41 <Kotono>   "As long as yous till have choices, you can do better and make things right." Janice gently hugs Mari, "As long as you hold freedom and love in your heart, there will always be a way."
May 01 21:20:50 *   Mari is immensely glad for this simple human contact and returns it. "Okay...Makes me scared just thinking about going there, though. I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get there." A parade of fears tumble out in a rush. "How do I get there? How do I find her? I've never done something like this before. I mean, devils! They don't want to let anyone out of their clutches, you know?" (more)
May 01 21:22:36 <Mari>   "Worse, what if she's been there long she doesn't want to leave? I go to all the trouble of finding her and she tells me to go hang myself or something because she's one of them now."
May 01 21:24:21 <Kotono>   "There's a lot to prepare for. Right now...worry not about that. Worry about you. Become what can push the chains of Baator away from Ami. Mari...close your eyes now, please. There's someone you need to see in your current time now. I can help your soul, but she can help your power."
May 01 21:25:25 *   Mari pulls back and closes her eyes as instructed. "Alright. Alright, and...thanks."
May 01 21:26:19 <Kotono>   "You're welcome. When it's over, talk to them. When it's over...learn from them. And Mari? Helping yourself and your sister is only the beginning. Two others close to you need your help"
May 01 21:26:22 <Kotono>   "You're welcome. When it's over, talk to them. When it's over...learn from them. And Mari? Helping yourself and your sister is only the beginning. Two others close to you need your help."
May 01 21:29:30 <Mari>   "I--what? Who?! Do you mean Knight and Nik, or...?"
May 01 21:30:36 <Kotono>   "Yes, them. You'll understand in time as you grow. Shh." At her words you feel her presence gone, Mari lying somewhere a little chilly.
May 01 21:31:35 *   Mari opens her eyes and looks around. Where is she now? Hopefully it's not somewhere else with that redheaded jerk.
May 01 21:32:44 <Kotono>   It's...Hardsoil. It's..."Well, well, well, if it isn't little Missy!" Granny Tam's cackle can be heard from the side, "The cat keeps on coming back! If you were a man I'd think you were being persistent!""
May 01 21:34:48 <Mari>   "Huh. I probably can be, thinking about it. I haven't tried that one yet." Mari looks distant for a moment, then shakes her head. "No, I still don't want to think about trying that. Granny...am I actually here, or is sort of spirit me, like last time? I'm a little confused right now and...other things. Just shaken up."
May 01 21:35:57 <Kotono>   "Oh, you're here. See here Missy, Granny hopes you got your angst out already!" You're in her shop, Granny Tam before you. She offers a hand out, looking just like Janice. "The Court of the Stars can be a bit abrupt, but you don't have all day to do things the nice and proper way."

<Mari> "Hey--wait, that was you the whole time? You're not going to tell everybody else all the stuff I said, right?"

May 01 21:40:18 <Kotono>   "Hm? Oh, that wasn't me. Yet." Granny Tam smirks, "I won't tell a soul once I know. If I end up knowing. See, Granny knew you'd probably come back like that one day. Missy, can't you see by now that I can read you like a book?"  A moment to clear her throat, "Now Granny thinks you came here to learn, didn't you?"
May 01 21:42:07 *   Mari looks visibly relieved, circumstances not leaving her with enough of her usual composure to disguise her feelings right now. "Yeah. Yeah, that was the idea. I wasn't really clear on what I'm supposed to be learning, though. I'll have to go to Baator soon though, sooo...whatever it has had better be good."
May 01 21:44:17 <Kotono>   "Now then, Missy, you finally figured it out. Granny here wasn't JUST doing all her fun to have fun." She saunters over to a table, hopping onto it to sit, kicking her feet a little bit. "You got the blood of Air in you, quick to change and never contained.  Granny knew you could do that if you really put your mind to it and got some practice being changed."
May 01 21:49:49 <Mari>   "Yeah? Well, I guess that explains a few things. I, uh, I'm not sure *how* someone would go about getting elements into the family tree, but in my experience, if somebody really wants to sleep with something, they'll find a way."
May 01 21:51:56 <Kotono>   "Ayup." Granny Tam giggles to that, "Love will find a way!" Clapping her hands together, "But Granny thinks let's not worry about how you came to me through hot, gusty windings! Let's worry about the now. Show me how you change, Missy."
May 01 21:54:55 <Mari>   "Right. Let's see...something really different would be good, I guess. Oh, I haven't tried one of these yet..." Mari concentrates for a moment, willing her body to transform into something shorter(er), squat, compact--dwarf Mari!
May 01 21:58:33 <Kotono>   In an instant Mari is a foot or two shorter and much more stout! Granny Tam crosses her arms, nodding to herself! "Uh huh, uh huh...I see, I see." She paces around dwarf-Mari, "Granny sees just how it is! I'll help you with this, Missy, don't you worry!"
May 01 21:59:46 <Mari>   "Hey, you say that like I'm doing something wrong!" Mari says, looking up at Granny.
May 01 22:01:03 <Kotono>   "Missy, you have a lot to learn!" THWAP! A bap upside Mari's squat head, "Now listen here, Missy, we'll get to that in a little bit. Now tell me, you thought Granny was just having a lark at your expense, over and over, right? That you were nothing more than a toy for Granny to get her jollies with?"
May 01 22:01:44 <Mari>   "I might have," Mari says carefully.
May 01 22:05:54 <Kotono>   "Oh no, Missy. Heavens forbid! I was helping you all the while!" Granny Tam cackles now, "Really."
May 01 22:06:46 <Mari>   "Mm-hm," Mari says, rubbing the side of her head and watching Granny closely in case she does that again! "Explain how?"
May 01 22:08:31 <Kotono>   Granny kicks back, "Missy, I knew you had that potential in you. So I made sure there were a lot of chances for you to be changed and adapt to it. Granny knew you had it in you for a long time."
May 01 22:11:36 <Mari>   "Well, it was mostly alright except when you turned me into an ugly orc. I didn't know it was supposed to be a *learning experience*."
May 01 22:14:55 <Kotono>   "You'll learn. Now then!" Clapping her hands together again, "Before I get to teaching you, remember this: No matter how you improve and how you change, it doesn't mean you can't have fun. What's being good if you're too serious to enjoy life?"
May 01 22:21:36 *   Mari sighs. "Mm. Yeah...I'd normally agree with that a lot more. Wondering a little if maybe I spent *too* much time enjoying myself not thinking about much else, or maybe just convincing myself I was content when I wasn't, or...I'm sorry, I'm in a mood. Go on."
May 01 22:24:17 <Kotono>   "No, you're doing what I was going to get around to saying," Granny TAm waves a hand, "That's right, Missy, you have a lot of thinking to do. A lot of growing to do. But for now, let's work on improving you."
May 01 22:26:15 <Mari>   "Alright," Mari says with a little relief. There are plenty of things she still doesn't mind not talking about. "Where do we start? I could stand to be taller, for starters. I mean, this is even shorter than usual! I just hadn't tried this one before, so I figured why not, you know?"